Acts 5:1-11 is not the easiest passage in the book of Acts to read or understand: Howard Marshall says of this passage, ‘The story must be ranked among the most difficult for modern readers of Acts.’ The explosive start of the church following the Day of Pentecost and the apparently unhindered growth of the growth make for exciting reading, but here, after the news of a tremendous healing and unprecedented unity, we have the story of Ananias and Sapphira, a couple who found their deceit and dishonesty were not tolerated by God or by the church and whose deaths remind us, if we needed reminding, that it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb 10:31) Peter was later to write that ‘it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household’ (1 Pet 4:17), and there is no doubt that this shocking account leaves us stunned with the severity of the judgment and can make us feel very uncomfortable and uncertain.

John Stott comments that this account ‘illustrates the honesty of Luke as a historian: he did not suppress this sordid episode. It throws light on the interior life of the first Spirit-filled community: it was not all romance and righteousness. It is also a further example of the strategy of Satan.’  The attitude of Ananias and Sapphira is contrasted with that of Barnabas in Acts 4:36-37 and is also reminiscent of Achan, whose sin led to the Israelites’ defeat at Ai (Joshua 7). This is the story of how two members of the community attempted to gain credit for a greater personal sacrifice than they had actually made by offering only part of the proceeds of a sale to the apostles and passing it off as if it were the whole amount. There was no compulsion on them to sell their land and give to the apostles (Acts 5:4), but their lack of integrity and hypocrisy (wanting to appear more virtuous than they were) are judged severely by God, speaking through Peter.

The ultimate truth of this story is that God is not tame or cosy. He will not be fitted into our image; He is holy and just, righteous and true. We may question the severity of the judgment meted out by God, but this shows us how radically God views sin and how easy we find it to gloss over sin, categorise it and rank certain sins higher than others. This passage illustrates that the church is founded upon truth, and it grows by means of truth. The unity of the church is also dependent upon truth. ‘Deception is an attack on the truth, and it is also one of the primary means of attack employed by Satan, the liar and deceiver. To tolerate even a small deception is to open the door to an attack on the truth which would be devastating and thus the consequences of the actions of these two people are extreme.’ (Bob Deffinbaugh)

The core of the sin described in this passage is lying to God (Acts 5:4). Lying can often seem so inconsequential to us, but all lies gradually erode truth and therefore must be shunned. We need to heed the warnings of Acts 5:1-11 and learn from the example of Ananias and Sapphira.

We had a July birthday to celebrate today, all the more special as today was the actual birthday!

Dave spoke tonight from Judges 14, looking at the life and character of Samson. Samson seems a mysterious figure to us:  is he an aggressive, oversexed buffoon or a hero of the faith? In the book of Judges, we see a cycle of sin, represented below:

Samson doesn’t seem to fit into this cycle, however, since he seems more a mirror of the people than a true leader. In his violence and promiscuity, he reflects the state of the nation at this time, and in his tolerance of the Philistines (choosing a wife from them), he mirrors the lack of passion for God which seems to have been prevalent.

We may well wonder where God was in all the murder and mayhem of the time, but the fact is that God works behind the scenes at all times, even when what is happening seems to make no sense to us. Samson’s riddle, based on his experience of killing a lion and later finding honey in the dead carcass (itself a violation of his Nazirite vows since he was not supposed to touch dead bodies or drink wine), infuriated the Philistines and led them to manipulate his new wife into revealing the answer to them. Samson’s wild revenge seems out of proportion and his weakness to women ultimately saw the Philistines rob him of his sight.

Judges 13:5 speaks of the potential Samson had, how God wanted him to be the means of deliverance from the Philistines. For much of his life, we may wonder why God stuck with this wayward man who never did quite live up to his potential (see Judges 15:20) … but that leads us to even greater riddles than Samson brought.

Why God sticks with flawed, sinful people and chooses to work out His plans and purposes through them is a mystery. Jesus continues to use flawed, sinful people such as us to fulfil His purposes, and is Himself proof of God’s riddle of grace. This grace is completely undeserved and cannot be earned, yet God’s unconditional love, grace and mercy reach out to each one of us – not once, but repeatedly, picking us up each time we fail, just as God persevered with Samson. The question ‘what is sweeter than honey?’ could be answered by the words ‘the love of God’. God is there with each one of us just as He was there with Samson, still working for our good and to fulfil His purposes which cannot be thwarted.

Those of a certain generation remember the TV game show ‘Bullseye!’ where the presenter, Jim Bowen, would tell losing contestants ‘Here’s what you could have won!’ – which always seemed a bitter irony, given that they hadn’t…

Garry’s sermon this morning at Cherry Tree Court looked at Isaiah 48:17-19 where God speaks to His people about the way they should go and warns us that we need to pay attention to what He says. The most effective way to learn is often through an apprenticeship where a young person works alongside a more experienced worker and is taught ‘on the job’, learning from them the tricks of the trade, learning from their mistakes. Although these can be misused and youngsters treated as skivvies, an apprenticeship is actually an ideal model for learning since it gives hands-on training as well as theoretical knowledge. God wishes to teach and direct us, leading us in the right paths, but so often, we choose our own ways (Prov 16:25). When this happens, God confronts us, not to gloat over our mistakes (‘here’s what you could have won!‘) but to restore us to His right paths.

When a builder works, he often has to strip things back to the bare brick, a process which leaves the room looking desolate, but it’s only then that new things can be added. God’s ‘look what you could have done’ is not meant to leave us mired in despair and desolation but is meant to offer us a second chance. When we heed His warnings and follow His directions, the result is a life well lived.

Garry spoke at our AGM about the need for ongoing development in our individual and corporate lives, looking especially at 3 areas:

1. prayer

2. what makes us distinctively Pentecostal

3. evangelism

In our Bible studies on the book of Acts, we have been seeing how these three strands work together to enable church growth. The early disciples were revolutionised by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and we need this outpouring on us too if we are to see the signs and wonders which enabled people to see and begin to understand God’s miraculous power among them. They were devoted to prayer and to each other and sought to speak about Jesus everywhere they went. We need to be people who are changed by the Holy Spirit, fired up and sent out by Him into our workplaces, neighbourhoods and communities with the good news of Jesus Christ. Nothing less will change our nation and bring growth to our church.

It’s a privilege to be able to work with other local churches in our area and at the AGM, we reviewed all that has been going on with this vibrant network.

Prayer Meetings

We hold a ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting once a month. The next prayer meeting is this Wednesday (17th August) at 10.30 a.m. at Sacred Heart RC Church. Please pray for local ministers, who are often looking after more than one church:

• Father Carl Schaefer (Goldthorpe Parish Church, St Andrew’s in Bolton-on-Dearne and Hickleton church)

• Father Declan (Sacred Heart RC Church, also working in Hoyland and Wombwell)

• St Helen’s in Thurnscoe (currently without a minister, with Fiona Kouble and David Hildred helping with the church)

• Wayne Ashton (Furlong Road Methodist Church, along with 2 other churches)

• Alison Sykes (Salvation Army)

Fun Days

Our fun days are a form of outreach, where we combine crafts, games and refreshments with a Christian message (e.g. Pentecost, Easter, Christmas.) We seek to find innovative ways to reach our community, such as the Good Friday Church Crawl in 2018 which looked at how different denominations celebrate Easter and the Advent Sheep Trail where we placed knitted sheep in local shops and encouraged children to find the names of the sheep and bring their responses to a joint service.

We have also been privileged to work with the Dearne Area Team and other organisations on Summer Fun Days in 2018 and will again be involved in these this summer, with a Superhero Party being held at GPCC on 14th August.

4FrontTheatre

One of the most exciting ventures for local churches has been inviting professional theatre company 4FrontTheatre to our area to perform Christian shows in our local primary schools and to our local community. In November 2018, Goldthorpe schools were treated to ‘Job & Jingle’, with 115 people attending the evening show at GPCC. This June, schools in Thurnscoe and Bolton-on-Dearne have seen ‘Fisherman’s Tail’, with 83 people attending the evening show at St Helen’s. We are looking forward to the team returning on 25th November with their new Christmas show, ‘Back In Time For Christmas’. This has strengthened the churches’ relationships with local schools, enabling us to take assemblies more frequently.

Looking ahead, we have invited ‘The Message Bus’ to our area on Wednesday 30th October and will be holding a Nativity trail in local shops in November (similar to the sheep trail, but with knitted Nativity figures), with a joint service being held on 14th December – so lots more to come!